No one likes rising electricity bills. They silently diminish your profit margins and add unnecessary pressure on your business. Especially when your factory hasn’t grown or added new machines. You’re running the same operations, but somehow, the bills just keep getting bigger.
That is exactly what happened to a textile factory we are about to tell you. They were paying more every month without any real increase in production. As per the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) of India, most state discoms levy penalties if your average monthly power factor is below 0.90. The problem wasn’t what they were doing, but how their machines were drawing power.
The hidden culprit? Low power factor.
The solution? A simple, smart power factor correction device.
This isn’t just their story. It’s a lesson for every factory owner who wants to stop wasting money. Here’s how they spotted the issue, fixed it with a smart power factor correction, and ended up saving lakhs.
Let me first tell you what a power factor is. It sounds technical, but it is a simple measure of how effectively your factory uses electricity. A low power factor means you’re drawing more power than you actually need. That extra power shows up on your bill.
Imagine you order 10 cups of tea and drink only 8. You still pay for all 10. That’s how low power factor works, you’re paying for power that doesn’t get used.
The power you actually use is called real power, and the total power you draw is apparent power. The closer your PF is to 1.0, the better. Anything less means waste.
Common causes of low power factor include:
In textile factories, motors, looms, and compressors are the usual suspects. When machines run below capacity or are outdated, power factor drops. If you don’t monitor it in real time, you’re likely losing money without knowing it.
Low power factor slowly eats into your profits. Most electricity providers charge penalties if your PF drops below 0.9. And these aren’t small penalties. Many factories lose ₹30,000 to ₹1,00,000 a month.
Low PF also increases the power you draw, heats up your transformers, and limits how much new equipment you can use. You’ll face more wear and tear, more breakdowns, and higher maintenance costs, all without producing anything extra.
Let me tell you about a textile factory I visited in Gujarat—not a big chain, just a well-run, 100,000 sq. ft. dyeing and weaving unit. From the outside, things looked smooth. Orders were coming in. Machines were running. But the factory owner, Rajesh, was worried.
Month after month, his electricity bill was inching higher. It had crossed ₹7 lakhs, and he couldn’t figure out why. There were no new machines. Production hadn’t increased. Yet, something was draining his profits.
So, Rajesh called in an energy audit team. What they found changed everything.
Key findings from the energy audit:
He knew he had to act and fast.
Rajesh didn’t go for a complete equipment overhaul. Instead, he chose to install a smart, cloud-based energy monitoring system. This single step gave him full visibility into his factory’s energy usage.
The system tracked power factor data across machines and sections, day and night. For the first time, Rajesh’s team could clearly see where the power factor was dropping and when. They used this insight to operate their capacitor banks more efficiently, fixing the problem manually but with much better timing.
They weren’t just guessing anymore. They had real-time data. And within two billing cycles, their power factor improved from 0.78 to a near-perfect 0.98.
That changed everything.
Fixing the power factor saved them ₹50,000 every month in penalties. Their demand charges went down, and in one year, they saved ₹6.2 lakhs.
But the benefits didn’t stop there. Machines ran smoother and broke down less. The team finally had clear data to plan better. They didn’t just save money, they made the entire factory more efficient.
If your business uses motors or heavy machinery, you probably have a power factor problem too.
Correcting it can stop penalties, reduce energy waste, and make your systems last longer. You’ll also be able to run more machines without upgrading your transformers. And your voltage will be more stable, which protects sensitive equipment.
Most importantly, it shows that your business is serious about saving energy and cutting costs.
Start by getting an energy audit. It’ll show you where the problem lies. Then, install a smart energy monitoring system. This gives you real-time data. Pair it with automatic correction so the system handles the fix instantly.
Train your team to read the reports. And keep checking the data regularly. Small steps will bring big results.
Low power factor won’t crash your systems. But it will quietly drain your profits month after month.
Fixing it, like this Gujarat factory did, puts you back in control. With smart monitoring and automatic power factor correction, you stop penalties, reduce waste, and make your equipment last longer. It makes a difference!
At Energy Bots, we build tools that help businesses use energy wisely. Our energy monitoring systems and automatic power factor correction solutions are designed to cut waste, lower bills, and improve efficiency.
Whether you run a factory, plant, or commercial building, we’re here to help you save energy and grow sustainably.
Let’s make your power work smarter, not harder. Connect Now!
Pioneering sustainable energy management with cutting-edge IoT solutions. We empower our customers to monitor, manage, and optimize energy usage in real-time, driving operational efficiency and reducing environmental impact.
